- HBsAg
HBsAg is the surface
antigen of theHepatitis -B-Virus (HBV ). It indicates current Hepatitis B infection. Thecapsid of a virus has different surface proteins from the rest of the virus. The antigen is a protein that binds specifically on one of these surface proteins. Today these antigen-proteins can be a genetically manufactured (e.g. transgeneE.coli ) to produce material for a simpleantigen test , which finds out the presence ofHBV .It is commonly referred to as the "Australian Antigen".
It is present in the sera of patients with viral hepatitis as well as in normal populations in the
tropics and thesoutheast Asia . However, it is rarely present in patients with infectious hepatitis.It was first isolated by the American research physician and
Nobel Prize winnerBaruch S. Blumberg (1925) in the serum of anAustralian aborigine.External links
[http://www.hepnet.com/hkn/b11.html HepNet: The Hepatitis Information Network]
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